If anyone is wondering where all the racism and homophobia of the Republican right has lead us, I can tell you: Michigan.
Whitney’s Tire and Auto Repair is an auto shop in Ypsilanti, Michigan. As reported by Yahoo News, when customer Madison Callanan called the shop to ask about tire prices, the mechanic told her that he wouldn’t answer stupid questions, and she sounded “f*cked up.” He went on to explain in derogatory terms why he doesn’t do business with Black people.
Ms. Callanan went on to write a very negative review on Yelp. No surprise there. She even got a response. That’s not a surprise either. Only this business reply was not the usual, “I am so very sorry that you had a bad experience.” Not even close.
Instead, someone calling himself Jim S. from Whitney’s Tire explained that most reviews come from “Blacks from Ypsilanti because I don’t want them here.”
Another customer had a similar, but even more disgusting experience. A 24 year old woman named Shalynn Renee Vaughn, a student at the University of Michigan, called the shop to ask about tire prices. This time the conversation was recorded.
The speaker, Jim S. again, told Ms. Vaughn that he doesn’t serve “ghetto” people. He tried to pretend that he only refused service to people who wouldn’t be able to afford it. You know, saying that he didn’t want to take a financial risk.
But he was dumb enough to add, “There’s no law against refusing service to ghetto people. I don’t serve f*ckin’ monkeys, f*ckin’ little primates.” Pretty hard to hide the racism in that one.
Except that there is, of course, a law against refusing to serve people based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation (except in some southern states, but that’s another story). That law is called the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and it absolutely means that Jim S. is breaking the law with every refused non-white customer.
Proof, if you ask me, that blatant racism and stupidity so often go hand in hand.
But let’s not leave out the Michigan homophobes.
Recently, a man called the Briarwood Auto Care to ask for some prices. He had wanted to fix his car himself, but realized it was too complicated. According to a story by Fox2, as soon as he mentioned wanted to do things for himself, the call took a dramatic turn downward.
First the Briarwood mechanic told him he was too young, based on his voice. Then, for some reason, he called him a “f*ggot.” After the call was ended by the uncomfortable caller, the mechanic actually sent him a text with the same ignorant word.
So if you happen to be a small business, say perhaps an auto mechanic or tire shop owner, I’d strongly suggest setting up shop in Michigan. As long as you are not an ignorant, bigoted a-hole, I’d suspect that there are a lot of folks in need of your services.
Featured image by Bob Villalobos, available through a Creative Commons License 2.0.
